Recruitment and consultancy freeze – exceptions approved – September 2011

1. During the month of September, the following exceptions to the recruitment and consultancy freeze (above £20k) have been considered by the Chief Executive, in his capacity as Accounting Officer.

2. The details are shown below:

| Approval date | Ref: No. & directorate | Summary of application | Consultancy/ recruit | Decision | |---------------|------------------------|------------------------|----------------------|----------| | 5 September 2011 | 126 RME | Scope for improvement in the efficiency of NR expenditure on support and operations £35,000 | Consultancy | Approved | | 5 September 2011 | 129 External Affairs | Temporary cover for PA to director | External recruitment | Approved | | 9 September 2011 | 124 External Affairs | Web manager maternity leave cover | External recruitment | Approved | | 9 September 2011 | 127 RME | Financial analyst – Grade C | External recruitment | Approved | | 9 September 2011 | 128 RPP | Agency worker (3 months) and Casual worker (1 year) | External recruitment | Approved | | 9 September 2011 | 130 Corporate Services | Organisational change manager | External recruitment | Approved | | 9 September 2011 | 131 RME | Efficient expenditure benchmarking of NR against North American railroads £50,000 | Consultancy | Approved | | 13 September 2011 | 132 RME | Impact of changes in track access charges on rail freight traffic £60,000 | Consultancy | Approved | | Approval date | Ref: No. & directorate | Summary of application | Consultancy/ recruit | Decision | |---------------|------------------------|------------------------|----------------------|----------| | 20 September 2011 | 133 External Affairs | Web developer extension to contract | External recruitment | NOT approved | | 30 September 2011 | 125b\* RME and RPP | International benchmarking of efficiency of NR expenditure on support and operations £200,000 plus vat | Consultancy | Approved |

Further details of any of the above applications and decisions are available from Elaine Horton

\*This is the second time this application has been considered – the limit for the second application was raised from £100k plus VAT to £200k plus VAT

3. The chief executive refused one application for external recruitment (Web Developer contract extension)

4. The Director of Corporate Services did not consider any applications for consultancy \<£20,000.